Social networks and developmental psychopathology: A comparison of adolescent children of a depressed, arthritic, or normal parent.

Investigated how social networks were linked to symptomatology and self-esteem among 3 groups of high-risk and normal adolescents (aged 12–28 yrs). 16 Ss with a depressed parent, 16 Ss with a parent with rheumatoid arthritis, and 16 Ss with parents free from psychological or physical disorder were administered the Hopkins Symptom Checklist and measures of self-esteem and social networks. Additional social network, friendship, and parent–friend boundary density variables were assessed during a semistructured interview. Although there were few between-group differences in mean levels of network variables, there were striking between-group differences in the pattern of associations between network variables and mental health. For Ss with a depressed or arthritic parent, more social support for problematic situations, stronger friendships, and more parent–peer linkages were related to much poorer adjustment. For Ss with disorder-free parents, these same network variables were related to much healthier adjustment. The discussion considers how developmental, psychodynamic, and social-structural factors may interact to affect well-being. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency, quality, and impact of life events in self-rated depressed, behavioral-problem, and normal children.

Assessed 60 self-rated depressed, behavioral-problem, and normal 3rd–6th grade children closely matched for sex, age, and socioeconomic status (SES) for the number, quality, and impact of stressful life events in the past year. Results indicate that dysphoria-reporting Ss experienced more life events and a higher qualitative index of stress than the other 2 groups. The impact of each event, however, was not greater for the depressed Ss than for the other 2 groups. The self-rated depressed Ss appeared to experience more major family disruptions than the other 2 groups of Ss. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instrumentality as a life-stress moderator for early versus middle adolescents.

Used a longitudinal design to test the main and stress-buffering effects of instrumentality on measures of trait anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Ss were early (junior high school) and middle (senior high school) adolescent boys and girls. The hypothesis that instrumentality would be negatively related to psychological distress was supported by the cross-sectional and longitudinal regression analyses of every subgroup of Ss. The hypothesized stress-buffering effect of instrumentality was found in the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of senior high girls, specifically in the context of interpersonal negative events (relationship stress). The analyses for junior high girls revealed that instrumentality was beneficial only at a low level of relationship stress. There were no significant interaction effects in the regression analyses of boys. The findings suggest that, when experiencing relationship stress, instrumentality is helpful for middle adolescent girls but not for early adolescent girls. Therefore, future research on adolescents' life-stress adjustment should consider the roles of gender, age, personality, and type of life stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal attributions and types of depression in college students: The learned helplessness model revisited.

Tested the relation between attributions and types of depression (with and without low self-esteem) postulated by reformulated learned helplessness theory vs. an alternative (R. Janoff-Bulman; see record 1981-01320-001). 334 Ss completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Attributional Style Questionnaire, and Janis-Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale. Scores above 8 on the Beck were considered depressed. A median split on the Janis-Field scale divided Ss into those with and without low self-esteem. Clearest support was found for Janoff-Bulman's formulations. Depressed Ss with low self-esteem made more internal characterological attributions for bad events than the other groups. Nondepressed Ss made more internal behavioral attributions than depressed Ss. The implications for counseling and future research on depression and learned helplessness are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life stress and adjustment: Effects of life events experienced by young adolescents and their parents.

A longitudinal design was used to test the effects of life events experienced by young adolescents and their parents. The criteria were the adolescents' depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. The longitudinal analysis revealed a significant effect for the adolescents' controllable, but not uncontrollable, negative events. However, causal analyses revealed that this effect was the result of the significant relation between initial adjustment and the subsequent occurrence of controllable life stress (e.g., school suspension). The longitudinal analysis also revealed the stress-protective role of positive events, but only with respect to girls' self-esteem. There was no longitudinal support for the role of the parents' negative life events. These findings do not support the etiological importance of an accumulation of relatively discrete negative events experienced by early adolescents and their parents, but they do suggest the need (a) to conceptualize (controllable) life stress as a dependent variable in future research on developmental psychopathology; (b) to examine gender differences in early adolescent life stress; and (c) to develop more sophisticated measures of family life stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prevention program for children experiencing life crisis.

Describes the development and evaluation of a preventively oriented crisis intervention program for young children. 57 primary grade children who were experiencing the crisis-predisposing events of parental death, divorce or remarriage, major elective surgery, or birth of a sibling were seen by trained nonprofessional child-aides in the school setting. Child-aides employed abreactive and problem-solving techniques during twice weekly meetings with Ss over a 6 wk period. Program Ss showed significant improvement on measures of school adjustment problems and competencies (Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale, Health Resources Inventory) and the State-Trait Anxiety Index for Children. Analyses indicate that the program was most effective with Ss for whom the life events seemed most crisis precipitating. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative cognitive errors in children: Questionnaire development, normative data, and comparisons between children with and without self-reported symptoms of depression, low self-esteem, and evaluation anxiety.

Constructed a self-report questionnaire, Children's Negative Cognitive Error Questionnaire (CNCEQ), to measure in children 4 types of negative cognitive errors derived from A. T. Beck's (1967, 1976) cognitive theory of adult depression: (a) overgeneralized predictions of negative outcomes, (b) catastrophizing the consequences of negative events, (c) incorrectly taking personal responsibility for negative outcomes, and (d) selectively attending to negative features of an event. Results from administration of the CNCEQ to a normative sample of 637 4th-, 6th-, and 8th-grade children showed that in general these Ss did not endorse any of the 4 types of negative thoughts to any large extent. However, 3 subsequent studies, using 201 of the Ss in the normative sample and 211 other 4th–8th grade children, indicated that Ss with self-reported symptoms of depression, low self-esteem, and evaluation anxiety (according to a children's depression inventory, the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, and a test anxiety scale) endorsed each type of negative cognitive error significantly more than did their nondepressed, high self-esteem, and non-evaluation-anxious counterparts. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent prediction of children's self-concepts.

Parents of 140 normal and 97 disturbed 8-14 yr. olds brought to a clinic predicted their child's responses to the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Clinic children had slightly but significantly lower scores on the scale, but parents differed greatly, with normal parents overestimating and clinic mothers underestimating their child's self-esteem. While percent agreement scores showed no significant differences except in favor of mother-father agreement, it was found that normal parents agreed with their child better on positive responses, and clinic parents (especially mothers) agreed better on negative responses. It is suggested that parent attitudes may be the most significant factor separating the 2 groups, and that satisfaction with the child, rather than just awareness of his feelings, may be the more crucial issue in the perception of him as needing or not needing professional help. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of self-esteem lability and low trait self-esteem as vulnerability factors for depression.

Self-esteem lability (SEL), defined as daily event-related variability in state self-esteem, and low trait self-esteem (TSE) were assessed among 205 male and female undergraduates who were currently depressed, previously depressed (PD), and never depressed (ND). SEL scores were derived for the effect of positive, negative, and combined events on state self-esteem over 30 days. Consistent with psychodynamic and cognitive theories, SEL was found to be a better index of depression proneness than TSE. PD Ss showed higher lability on all SEL scores than ND controls but did not differ from controls on TSE. Ss were reassessed 5 mo later, and new cases showed higher premorbid SEL than ND controls but did not differ from controls on premorbid TSE. SEL at Time 1 was found to increase risk for depression at Time 2 among Ss reporting high life stress at Time 2. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Well-being following amputation: Salutary effects of positive meaning, optimism, and control.

Examined the salutary effects of finding positive meaning in a disabling experience, being an optimist, and perceiving control over disability on 2 criterion variables of psychological well-being: depression and self-esteem. A mail-in survey on psychosocial adjustment to limb amputation was completed by 138 persons (aged 19–78.6 yrs) with amputations. Regression analyses revealed that finding meaning following amputation was linked to lower levels of depressive symptomatology but not to self-esteem. Both dispositional optimism and perceived control over disability were predictive of lower scores on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and higher scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Implications for rehabilitation are discussed, and it is recommended that future research consider salutary effects from a reality negotiation perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression-related cognitions: Antecedent or consequence?

Measured depression-related cognitions and self-esteem in 998 adults who were followed for 1 yr. Ss completed a battery of tests including the Subjective Probability Questionnaire, Personal Beliefs Inventory, and Multidimensional Multiattributional Causality Scale. 63 Ss were depressed at the time of assessment, 85 became depressed during the follow-up period, and 115 had a history of depression but were not depressed at the initial assessment. Results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that depression-related cognitions arise concomitantly with an episode of depression. The currently depressed Ss differed from nondepressed Ss as expected; however, Ss who were to become depressed during the course of the study did not differ from controls on the cognitive measures. In addition, depressive cognitions did not seem to be permanent residuals of an episode. Although the depression-related cognitions did not predict future depression, they did predict improvement; depressed Ss with more negative cognitions were significantly less likely to improve during the follow-up period. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The personality and family-interaction characteristics of parents of autistic children.

49 parents of autistic children (aged 2.1–9.75 yrs) generally scored in the normal range on the MMPI, and their scores did not differ from normative data on families with only normal children. Ss exhibited the same level of marital happiness on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale as a normative group of happily married couples and showed considerably better marital adjustment than a normative group of divorced couples. Ss did not differ by more than one standard deviation from normal families when assessing interpersonal relationships among family members on the Family Environment Scale. Biological and stepparents of autistic children showed essentially identical results on all of the measures used. Ss showed no higher level of general stress compared to established normative data, although the periodic occurrence of situation-specific stresses remains plausible. Results are all counter to the concept of any general psychological characteristics for parents of autistic children with respect to either a parental cause of the disorder or with respect to a general stress reaction to the disorder. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children of depressed parents: An integrative review.

Reviews the literature on the adjustment of children of depressed parents, difficulties in parenting and parent–child interaction in these families, and contextual factors that may play a role in child adjustment and parental depression. First, issues arising from the recurrent, episodic, heterogeneous nature of depression are discussed. Second, studies on the adjustment of children with a depressed parent are summarized. Early studies that used depressed parents as controls for schizophrenic parents found equivalent risk for child disturbance. Subsequent studies using better-defined samples of depressed parents found that these children were at risk for a full range of adjustment problems and at specific risk for clinical depression. Third, the parenting difficulties of depressed parents are described and explanatory models of child adjustment problems are outlined. Fourth, important gaps in the literature are identified, and a consistent, if unintentional, "mother-bashing" quality in the existing literature is noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of failure on the self-esteem of depressed and nondepressed subjects.

Hypothesized that depressed Ss would show greater negative change in self-esteem in response to failure than nondepressed Ss, and investigated the relationship between lability and stability in mood and susceptibility of self-esteem to failure. 24 depressed and 24 nondepressed Ss completed daily mood ratings for 1 wk. and were categorized into stabile and labile groups. Each S was given a puzzle-solving task on which a 25, 50, or 75% failure condition was possible. Before and after the task, each S completed a self-esteem measure. Differences between depressed and nondepressed, stabile and labile groups did not reach statistical significance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing treatment gains in a school-based intervention for children of divorce through skill training, parental involvement, and transfer procedures.

The school-based Children's Support Group procedure teaches skills to cope with divorce-related events and provides strategies for mastering disrupted developmental tasks. Ss were 103 3rd–5th grade children of separated or divorced parents who were assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: (1) support, (2) support and skill building, or (3) support, skill building, transfer, and parent training procedures. 26 children from intact homes served as non-stressed controls. The 2 skill-building conditions yielded durable improvements in adjustive behaviors in the home. Transfer components yielded additional improvements in affect, but the absence of substantial increments in benefits suggests the need for a closer look at the format and expectations of the transfer vehicle. The benefits of the support-alone condition were experienced most by children who entered the intervention with significant problems, with the greatest reductions in clinical symptomatology at follow-up being found in this group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adjustment of children of depressed mothers: A 10-month follow-up.

There is considerable concern about the adjustment of children of depressed mothers. Earlier, the specificity of these difficulties to maternal depression was studied. Child adjustment difficulties were evident in 7- to 13-yr-old children of both depressed and nondepressed psychiatric patient mothers but not in the children of community mothers or nondepressed medical patient mothers (C. M. Lee and I. H. Gotlib, 1989). This report describes a 10-mo follow-up of 44 of these Ss. Despite the alleviation of maternal depressive symptomatology, children in the 2 psychiatric groups continued to manifest adjustment difficulties that were evident to both clinicians and mothers. These findings suggest that the adjustment difficulties found in the children of psychologically distressed mothers do not abate within the 1st yr after the mothers' recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of children's long-term adjustment to their parents' divorce.

Assessed the nature and correlates of adjustment to divorce in a sample of 58 White, middle-class, 8–17 yr old children whose parents had been separated about 4 yrs. Ss were administered a battery of tests, including the California Psychological Inventory, the Adjective Check List, the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children, and a questionnaire on divorce adjustment. Measures of Ss' understanding of and feelings about the divorce were nonsignificantly related only to Ss' positive feelings about the divorce. Ss' understanding of the divorce did not reveal great difficulty of adjustment; however, feelings about the divorce were largely negative. A 2-yr follow-up of 24 Ss and 14 of their siblings revealed moderate stability in Ss' divorce adjustment with significant increases in their positive feelings regarding the loss of the noncustodial parent and peer relations. Locus of Control and Interpersonal Reasoning were significant predictors of divorce adjustment independent of age. Finally, specific adjustment to divorce was related to Ss' more global personal adjustment. (62 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioeconomic disadvantage, proximal environmental experiences, and socioemotional and academic adjustment in early adolescence: investigation of a mediated effects model

This study investigated interrelations among conditions of household socioeconomic disadvantage, proximal environmental experiences, and adaptational outcomes in a sample of 398 middle grade, early adolescents from a predominantly poor, rural area. Findings indicated that levels of disadvantage were related to both socioemotional and academic adjustment, with those from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds faring most poorly. Specifically, youth from homes in which adults were employed in low-income, unskilled occupations were found to have lower levels of school performance and achievement compared to those from homes in which adults were employed in higher paying semi-skilled or skilled/professional occupations. Further, youth from families in which neither parent had graduated from high school exhibited significantly worse socioemotional and academic adjustment than did those whose parents had higher educational levels. Youth who lived in relatively disadvantaged homes also reported more negative experiences of proximal environmental conditions relating to family and school contexts and greater exposure to stressful life events. Most notably, findings provided support for employing an ecological-mediational perspective to understand patterns of linkage between socioeconomic disadvantage and levels of adjustment. Support for this viewpoint included the finding that proximal environmental experiences were significant predictors of adolescent adjustment, independent of shared variance with conditions of household disadvantage, whereas conditions of disadvantage in several instances were no longer related significantly to indices of adjustment once their association with proximal environmental conditions was taken into account. The discussion considers implications for the targeting and scope of ecologically oriented approaches to preventive intervention.     

Childhood depression, stressors and parental depression

The relationship between depression and stressors and the relationship between depression in children and depression in their parents were investigated. Depressed children aged 7-11 years (n = 20) were compared with clinical non-depressed children (n = 88) and normal children (n = 55). Children, mothers and fathers in the three groups were tested. Measures included the Children's Depression Inventory, Recent Life Events Scale, Stressor Scale and Beck Depression Inventory. The findings showed that children and mothers in the depressed group reported more stressors than other children and other mothers while fathers of children in the depressed group did not report more stressors. The findings also showed that mothers of depressed children were more depressed than mothers of normal children while there were no differences between the scores of fathers in the three groups.     

Psychological profiles of purging bulimics, repeat dieters, and controls.

In Study 1, 29 female undergraduates who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) criteria for bulimia were compared with 2 nonbulimic groups drawn from the same S pool. One group consisted of 27 Ss who reported feeling dissatisfied with their weight and engaged in repeated dieting attempts but not bulimic behavior. The 2nd comparison group consisted of 27 Ss who reported feeling satisfied with their weight and not dieting within the last year. Measures included the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Personal Attributes Questionnaire, and Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. All Ss scored in the normal range, but bulimics scored significantly higher than the 2 comparison groups on a number of clinical scales. Also, the bulimics and repeat dieters reported lower self-esteem than did the nondieting group. The major discriminating variables—psychopathic deviance, mania, and physical self-esteem—separated all 3 groups and accounted for 78% of the explained variance. Study 2 was conducted with 27 current bulimic women, 12 former bulimics, 29 nondieters, and 31 repeat dieters. Results confirm the importance of physical self-esteem and psychopathic deviance in differentiating between groups. This study also revealed that bulimics engaged in sexual activities and in the adolescent acting-out behaviors of drug and alcohol use more frequently, and at an earlier age, than did the 2 comparison groups. Implications for therapeutic interventions are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)